Examining preferences for centralizing cancer surgery services

Centralization of cancer surgery services aims to reduce variations in quality of care and improve health outcomes for patients, but it can also increase travel demands on patients and families. In a recent BJS (British Journal of Surgery) study of patients, health professionals, and members of the public, individuals were willing to travel longer to have better care and outcomes: on average, 75 minutes longer to reduce their risk of complications by 1 per cent, and over 5 hours longer to reduce the risk of death by 1 per cent. Findings were similar across groups in the study.

"Our findings suggest that people are willing to travel longer if it means having better care and better outcomes. But, if services are not linked with better care and outcomes, people prefer to be treated by their local hospital," said senior author Professor Stephen Morris, of University College London, in the UK. "When planning changes of this kind, it is vital that improvements in care and outcomes are at the heart of proposals."

Related Stories

(HealthDay)—Complete handover of intraoperative anesthesia care is associated with an increased risk of adverse postoperative outcomes among adults undergoing major surgery, according to a study published in the Jan. 9 ...

Three hundred and ten million patients undergo surgery worldwide each year, but while global initiatives are increasing access to surgical treatment, little data has been compiled about complication rates after surgery.

Patients with obesity have a higher risk of infection within 30 days after receiving heart bypass surgery, according to a series of studies conducted by University of Alberta researchers at the Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine.

Recommended for you

A new study reveals that during stressful moments in the operating room, surgeons make up to 66 percent more mistakes on patients. Using a technology that captured the electrical activity of a surgeon's heart, researchers ...

A JAMA Surgery study found that patients are likely to base their weight loss surgery choice on expected out-of-pocket costs, and how much weight they can lose—not risk of complications or recovery time.

For the first time, bioengineered spinal discs were successfully implanted and provided long-term function in the largest animal model ever evaluated for tissue-engineered disc replacement. A new Penn Medicine study published ...

A new study designed to reach hospitalized patients at risk shows that a "real-time" educational conversation, video or leaflet can lower the missed dose rates of drugs that can prevent potentially lethal blood clots in their ...

0 comments

Please sign in to add a comment.
Registration is free, and takes less than a minute.
Read more

Click here to reset your password.
Sign in to get notified via email when new comments are made.